Blueberry Sweet Rolls with Lemon Glaze

Pastries, jumbo muffins, buttermilk pancakes, gooey cinnamon rolls, french toast, crumb-filled coffee cake, granola parfaits, buttery croissants, veggie omelets, coffee, coffee, and more coffee. Oh, and these and these. And when it’s breakfast-for-dinner night? Forget about it. It feels like Christmas and my birthday all in one day. Does it get any better?

Most of the time I’m a fruit and yogurt gal. (Did I mention coffee too?) There’s not much time for anything else in the morning as Kevin’s running out the door and I’m catching up with my inbox and planning out the day’s work. However, when we both have time to sit down together, I love to whip up some homemade sweet rolls. You could say… I’m addicted.

Today’s fruity sweet roll comes from my Easy Cinnamon Roll recipe. It’s an easy yeasted roll recipe that is perfect for the baker who wants to learn how to bake with yeast for the first time. What makes them so easy? Well, they only require one rise!

You’ll find that the typical sweet roll or homemade bread recipe requires two rises – a first rise of about 1-2 hours, then a second rise for another two hours or overnight. I developed a sweet roll recipe that bypasses the first rise all together. With a growing to-do list everyday, I am always looking for ways to cut down time on recipes without sacrificing taste or texture.

Let’s discuss the filling. It’s a simple mixture of frozen blueberries, sugar, and cornstarch. Make the filling before you make the dough so the blueberries have to absorb the sugar and cornstarch. Using frozen blueberries is important. Fresh blueberries won’t release their juices like frozen blueberries do. If you have a plethora of fresh blueberries to use up, I suggest making these muffins.

Using frozen blueberries means that you can bake these glorious sweet rolls in the dead of winter, too!

Since the blueberries are frozen, they will make the dough cold after you fill it, cut into rolls, and allow to rise. Even though this recipe is developed from my Easy Cinnamon Roll dough, today’s rolls will take longer to rise since the dough is cold as a result of the blueberries. Does that make sense? The rise time is about 2 hours. Still much shorter than most typical recipes.

The rolls need a warm, draft-free environment to rise. Here’s what I do: Heat the oven to 200F. Turn off the oven. Place the rolls inside for 2 hours. That’s it!

When the rolls are rising, the frozen blueberries release their juices and fill the bottom of the pan with a layer of sweet blueberry juice. As the rolls bake, the blueberry juice thickens and bakes up into the bottom of the roll. A layer of thick blueberry goo at the bottom of the pan. I mean, it’s practically heaven.

After the rolls have risen and you’ve baked them, it’s time for a glaze. I made an easy sweet lemon glaze to pair with the fluffy dough and juicy blueberries. A drippy, zesty coating that pairs perfectly with the doughy rolls. I love lemon and blueberry together! The glaze is a simple mix of powdered sugar, a touch of cream, and the juice of a lemon. There’s really no science behind it. You truly can control its lemon flavor and thickness– use more/less lemon juice, more/less sugar, and more/less cream. I use half-and-half, but heavy cream or milk will do the trick.

Sweet Lemon Glaze

Directions:

Make the filling first: Combine the frozen blueberries, sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl. Gently toss around and let sit while you prepare the dough.

Make the dough: Set aside 1/2 cup of flour. In a large bowl, toss the remaining flour, sugar, salt, and yeast together. Set aside.

Heat the water, milk, and butter together in the microwave until the butter is melted and the mixture is hot to touch. About 115-120 degrees F. Stir the butter mixture into the flour mixture. Add the egg and only enough of the reserved flour to make a soft dough. I only needed 1/3 cup, but you may need the full 1/2 cup. Dough will be ready when it gently pulls away from the side of the bowl and has an elastic consistency.

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for about 5-6 minutes. Place in a lightly greased bowl (I used non-stick spray) and let rest for about 10 minutes.

Fill the rolls: After 10 minutes, roll the dough out in a 14x8 inch rectangle. Pour the sugared blueberries on top and gently spread them to cover the dough surface. Roll up the dough tightly. Cut into 11-12 even pieces and place in a lightly greased 9-inch round pan. I used a pie dish, lightly sprayed with nonstick spray.

Loosely cover the rolls with aluminum foil and allow to rise in a warm, draft-free place for 2-3 hours. Here is what I do: heat the oven to 200 degrees F. Turn oven off. Place rolls inside oven and allow to rise.

After the rolls have doubled in size, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned. I covered the rolls with aluminum foil after 15 minutes to avoid heavy browning.

Make the glaze: Right before serving, top your blueberry rolls with glaze. Mix all of the glaze ingredients together. If you prefer a thicker glaze, add more powdered sugar and then add salt to cut the sweetness, if desired. If you'd like it thinner, add more lemon juice or cream. Pour over sweet rolls.

Rolls are best enjoyed the same day, but stay fresh in a covered container for 5 days in the refrigerator.

Recipe Notes:

Overnight: This dough can be made the night before through step 5. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and allow to rest in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, remove from the refrigerator and let rise, about 1 hour. Continue with step 7.

If you replace Red Star Platinum with an active dry yeast, the rise time may be 50% longer.

You must use frozen (not fresh) blueberries in this recipe. Do not thaw.

Leave out the lemon juice if you do not prefer lemon glaze. Replace with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract instead.

Breakfast is my thing, too. I can’t go without it, and I don’t want to. These look incredible with all that blueberry oozing all over…and I haven’t even gotten to the glaze yet! I love that they’re low in butter and sugar. Less guilt. Very yummy.

Breakfast is already my favorite meal of the day, but you have just made me love it anymore! This recipe is being added to my many other recipes of yours I want to make! The only thing I could see myself changing is making it a lemon cream cheese frosting 🙂 I’m not a huge fan of cream cheese by itself, but I think I could eat a bowl of cream cheese frosting by itself. I guess I could like almost anything if enough sugar is involved 😉

I honestly love ALL of your cinnamon roll-type recipes! I bookmark all of them but I just don’t have the time to make them with all of my deadlines! Ugh. One of these days I will make it. Promise. And then I will eat every last one of them.

These are so pretty with the blueberries! And oh my…lemon glaze…YUM! I love using your Easy Cinnamon Roll recipe…super easy! (especially compared to the technical recipe my mother taught me growing up.) Now yours is my go to recipe…now, I’m going to have to get some blueberries! Gorgeous, Sally.

Sally, all of your cinnamon bun recipes look just amazing! I have never tried Red Star Yeast, but will give it a shot after your glowing reviews lately. It sure looks like it works wonders. I’m afraid to make any of these sweet rolls – because I have no self control around breakfast pastries – but I might have to make an exception for these, given how much I love berries and lemon together.

Oh my goodness – lemon and blueberry in a cinnamon roll sounds delicious to the next level. Sweet and tart and fluffy? My problem with cinnamon rolls and self control just got bigger! Wonderful pictures, too!

Sally, these look delicious! The colors, flavors, fluffy texture….I need these. 🙂 I have yeast questions for you. Is the yeast you use instant yeast? I have an instant yeast that I got from King Arthur that is especially for sweet breads/rolls and I would love to try it in this recipe. You don’t say” instant” in the ingredients, but I thought (and I am completely a yeast novice) that regular yeast had to be activated (like in warm liquid) and instant is the kind that gets mixed right in (like in this recipe). Baking can be tricky business! 🙂

Hi there,
Dying to make these. But I’m a make them the night before an bake in the AM kinda girl, with a toddler and pregnant. Blah! Anyway, am I reading it right that I would prepare them through step 5 and then just leave them out until the morning? Thank you in advance for the answer if possible. Best to you! Great blog!

Breakfast is TOTES my favorite meal of the day, especially if it can include these sweet rolls! Dude, Sally, the blueberry and lemon combo sounds like the absolutely best way to wake up in the morning 😀

First of all the colors in these photos–uggghhhh, so pretty. The blueberries look so bright and vibrant! Also I’m dying over the lemon glaze. Lemon + blueberry is one of my fav combos! These look amazing, girl!

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I’m Sally, a cookbook author, photographer, and blogger. My goal is to give you the confidence and knowledge to cook and bake from scratch while providing quality recipes and plenty of pictures. Grab a cookie, take a seat, and have fun exploring! more about Sally